Frilled bag

ABSTRACT

A frilled panel, with frills extending from the top and/or bottom edges, that is attached to a panel of a bag as decoration. A cutter is used to produce cuts that form the frills.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to shopping and gift bags, and, moreparticularly, to an accessory for attachment to a bag.

BACKGROUND

Shopping and gift bags are available in various dimensions, colors,styles and materials, including (but not limited to) paper or plastic.Many have a rectangular bag compartment with an open top and U-shapedhandles extending from the top front and back edges. The outside panelsof the bags may be colored, with our without patterns, letters, wordsand other informational or design elements.

Such bags are widely available in the marketplace. Mass produced usingbag manufacturing equipment and readily available materials, such bagsare relatively inexpensive. While the manufacturing process minimizescost, it also limits the features that may be incorporated into a bag.For example, conventional manufacturing processes do not allowtexturing, e.g., ruffling or frilling, bag features. Even if theequipment to incorporate such features into a convention bag existed,manufacturers loathe modifying their manufacturing line for a particularcustomer.

What is needed is a method and article for adding frills and ruffles toa bag, without changing the bag manufacturing process. To be costeffective and practical, the article must not only be aestheticallypleasing, but must also be readily attachable to a conventional bag andsuitable for mass production.

The invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the problems andsolving one or more of the needs as set forth above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve one or more of the problems set forth above, in an exemplaryimplementation of the invention, a frill strip for decorating a bagincludes a flat or folded sheet of material with frills cut on an edge.An adhesive applied at the time of attachment, or an adhesive strip, ora mechanical fastener such as a clip, or magnetic fastener, or a glue,such as a microwave cured glue, or other attachment means now known orhereafter developed, is provided along the spine to facilitateattachment to a panel of a bag. A cutter is used to produce cuts thatform frills. A filled panel, with frills extending from the top andbottom edges of the panel, may also be formed and attached to a panel ofthe bag.

Another exemplary frill sheet includes a plurality of adjoined foldedsheets, each having opposite frilled edges and an intermediate spineseparating the frilled edges. The filled edges overlap withoutconcealing lower frilled edge layers. A plurality of the resultingassembly, a “frill tile,” can be overlapped and affixed to a panel of abag.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other aspects, objects, features and advantages of theinvention will become better understood with reference to the followingdescription, appended claims, and accompanying drawings, where:

FIGS. 1 and 11 are perspective views of an exemplary bag adorned withexemplary frill panels according to principles of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary frill panel with optionalexemplary adhesive strips according to principles of the invention; and

FIGS. 3 and 12 are perspective views of an exemplary frill sheetaccording to principles of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side view of a plurality of exemplary frill sheets withadhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of theinvention; and

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of a plurality of exemplary frill sheetswith adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles ofthe invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of an exemplary overlapping frill stripcomprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesive sandwichedbetween sheet layers according to principles of the invention; and

FIG. 7 is another perspective view of an exemplary overlapping frillstrip comprised of folded layers of frill sheets with adhesivesandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of theinvention; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a plurality of exemplary overlappingfrill strips, each comprised of folded layers of frill sheets withadhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according to principles of theinvention; and

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of a bag adorned with a plurality ofexemplary overlapping frill strips, each comprised of folded layers offrill sheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according toprinciples of the invention; and

FIG. 10 is a front view of a bag adorned with a plurality of exemplaryoverlapping frill strips, each comprised of folded layers of frillsheets with adhesive sandwiched between sheet layers according toprinciples of the invention; and

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the figures are notintended to be drawn to any particular scale; nor are the figuresintended to illustrate every embodiment of the invention. The figuresillustrate exemplary embodiments, which are non-limiting examples ofembodiments that incorporate one or more features of the invention. Someof the figures illustrate optional features. The invention is notlimited to the exemplary embodiments depicted in the figures or thespecific components, configurations, shapes, relative sizes, ornamentalaspects or proportions as shown in the figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

By way of example and not limitation, the material may comprise tissuepaper, crepe paper, some other paper or thin plastic sheet or textilethat is suitable for cutting to form frills. The strip may represent aportion of a roll of material or an isolated strip.

As used herein, a frill is a feature of a decorative border comprised ofa plurality of adjacent narrow strands, that are comparatively long,usually of uniform width, attached to and extending from a root oppositethe decorative border. The frills may be bent or curled in variousdirections and radii to provide a full 3-dimensional decorative fluffygarland. The frills may have various shapes, including, but not limitedto generally rectangular, flower petal shaped, or other naturallyoccurring or geometric shapes or combinations thereof, without departingfrom the scope of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exemplary frill panel according toprinciples of the invention.

FIGS. 1, 2, and 11 are perspective views of an exemplary bag 200 adornedwith frill panels 100 and a frill panel 100 according to principles ofthe invention. A frill panel 100 is sized to fit over the front and backpanels 202, 204 of a bag 200 with the frills extending above the topedges of the panels 202, 204. In use, the frills may extendsubstantially above the edge of the bag, and may be ruffled with variouscurvatures and bends.

The frill panel 100 is either a wide frill strip attachable to a bag ora panel having a plurality of frill strips attached to it. By way ofexample, one or more frill strips 105 may be attached to a substrate 110to form the frill panel. The substrate 110 may be a paper, cardboard,plastic, textile, woven or nonwoven, sheet. A plurality of adhesivestrips 112, 114, 116 are provided for attaching the frill panel 100 to apanel of the bag 200. In another implementation, adhesive may be appliedto the panel of a bag to define a point of attachment. The adhesive maybe pre-applied or applied at the time of attachment. In the case ofpre-application, the adhesive may include a removable backing

Referring now to FIG. 3, a perspective view of an exemplary frill sheetaccording to principles of the invention is shown. The sheet 201includes opposite frilled edges 210, 215. The sheet 201 may be a portionof a long strip of material on which frilled edges 210, 215 are formedusing any of the methods described above. An unfilled strip 220 known asa spine separates the frilled edges 210, 215. Layers of sheets 201, 202,203, 204 may be adhesively joined together by intermediate adhesivestrips 220, 221, 222, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. The adhesively joinedsheets 201, 202, 203, 204 may by offset so that their centerlines do notalign. In such a configuration, the frilled edges 210, 211, 212, 215,216, 217 overlap without concealing lower frill edge layers, as shown inFIGS. 6 and 7. The resulting assembly is referred to as a frill tile300. Though a portion of a spine 220 is exposed on the front side of thefrill tile shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the entire spine 220 may be removedfrom sight at the front side of the panel by adjusting relativealignment of the sheet 201.

Now referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, a plurality of frill tiles 300, 301, 302and 300, 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 are arranged in overlapping fashion toprovide overlays 310 and 315. The overlays may be configured to coverone or more panels of a bag, such as the bag conceptually illustrated inFIGS. 9 and 10. While a plurality of fringe tiles are illustrated, theinvention is not limited to a plurality. Rather, one or more fringetiles may be used in accordance with the principles of the invention.

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 9. A frilled bag comprising a bagstructure comprised of including a front sheet, a back sheet and a topopening, said bag structure defining a receptacle between the frontsheet and back sheet, said receptacle being accessible through the topopening, a frill panel comprising a panel having a front surface, a backsurface, and a three dimensional decorative element formed in a portionof said panel, and an attachment between the back surface of the paneland the bag structure, said attachment attaching the frill panel to oneof the front sheet and back sheet of the bag structure.
 10. A frilledbag according to claim 9, said attachment comprising an adhesive.
 11. Afrilled bag according to claim 9, said attachment comprising a magnet.12. A frilled bag according to claim 9, said attachment comprising amechanical fastener.
 13. A frilled bag according to claim 9, said threedimensional decorative element comprising a plurality of adjacent narrowstrands defined by a plurality of adjacent cuts in the panel.
 14. Afrilled bag according to claim 13, said adjacent narrow strands beingcurled strands.
 15. A frilled bag according to claim 9, said frill panelcomprising one frill panel of a plurality of frill panels, each of saidplurality of frill panels being attached to at least one of the frontsheet and back sheet.
 16. A frilled bag according to claim 15, saidplurality of frill panels including overlapping frill panels.
 17. Afrilled bag according to claim 15, said plurality of frill panelsincluding overlapping frill panels, wherein overlapping frill panelsinclude an upper panel with a top edge and a bottom edge and a lowerpanel with a top edge and a bottom edge, the bottom edge of the toppanel overlaying the top edge of the lower panel.
 18. A frilled bagaccording to claim 15, said plurality of frill panels including adjacentfrill panels.
 19. A frilled bag according to claim 15, said plurality offrill panels including abutting frill panels.
 20. A frilled bagaccording to claim 9, said three dimensional decorative elementcomprising a plurality of overlapping sheets folded along a fold line,each sheet having a pair of free edges disposed apart from the foldline, and the free edges including cuts orthogonal to the free edges toform a plurality of strands.
 21. A frilled bag according to claim 20,the fold line not being midway between the free edges.
 22. A frill panelfor a bag structure, said bag structure comprised of including a frontsheet, a back sheet and a top opening, said bag structure defining areceptacle between the front sheet and back sheet, said receptacle beingaccessible through the top opening, said frill panel comprising a panelhaving a front surface, a back surface, and a three dimensionaldecorative element formed in a portion of said panel, and an attachmentbetween the back surface of the panel and the bag structure, saidattachment attaching the frill panel to one of the front sheet and backsheet of the bag structure.
 23. A frill panel for a bag according toclaim 22, said attachment comprising an adhesive.
 24. A frill panel fora bag according to claim 22, said attachment comprising a magnet.
 25. Afrill panel for a bag according to claim 22, said attachment comprisinga mechanical fastener.
 26. A frill panel for a bag according to claim22, said said plurality of strands being adjacent narrow curled strands.27. A frill panel for a bag according to claim 22, said frill panelcomprising a plurality of overlapping sheets folded along a fold line,each sheet having a pair of free edges disposed apart from the foldline, and the free edges including cuts orthogonal to the free edge toform the plurality of strands, said plurality of strands comprising thethree dimensional decorative element.
 28. A frill panel for a bagaccording to claim 27, the fold line not being midway between the freeedges.